A Fledgling Chance
by KrRcksMySx
Summary: What if Big Daddy never died? What kind of a life does Mindy have after Frank is dead and gone, but her daddy still lives? What part of that life belongs to Hit Girl, and what part belongs to Mindy? Where does Dave fit in and what happens to Chris D'Amico with the family business up in the air?
1. Prologue

Hit Girl threw her emergency light on the ground and walked slowly to Big Daddy.

"Good Job," He said, pain clearly laced in his voice. Hit Girl gingerly removed the mask from his face and he continued on. "I'm so proud of you, Baby Doll."

Hit Girl just looked at her mentor, her father, and was saddened. His legs were a bloody mess, blistered, and his clothes burnt and shredded. His face was blistered as well, yet the flames hadn't risen up that far.

"Are you okay?" He asked her tenderly, still concerned for his daughter's safety.

She nodded and murmured an "Uh huh," Before pausing and adding, "Getting shot daddy, it hurt more than when you did it."

Big Daddy smiled at his daughter, even though it clearly hurt him to do so. "That's because I used low velocity rounds, child." He laughed too, despite the pain shooting through his body.

Dave Lizewski, A.K.A. Kick Ass sat in the chair next to the pair trying not to intrude despite being tied to the chair, bleeding and aching all over from the beating he'd just lived through.

Damon turned to look at the poor green fellow. He looked bad, but he knew he'd make it. He turned back to his daughter, Mindy. "You have to take him with you. I can't…"

"Daddy," Mindy started to protest, but her father stopped her.

"You have to stop Frank now, there's not going to be another chance," He explained, his voice ragged.

Mindy looked over at Kick Ass and snarled her lip. She wanted to put a bullet in his head too. If it wasn't for him, she and her daddy would have never gotten into this mess, and she would never have been shot out of a two-story window.

Big Daddy could tell what his daughter was thinking. If he wasn't injured himself he'd probably have agreed with her, but he was. So he had to trust that this kid meant business when be decided to put on a costume.

"Child, you can't do it all on your own. You have to do this with Kick Ass," He told her, hoping she'd understand and hurry up and get going, there really wasn't any time to lose at this point.

Mindy didn't like the idea, but she knew her dad was right. It was a total suicide mission to go all on her own. But she still didn't trust Kick Ass.

"Wait, what? No, I mean, I can't," Dave stammered out, not sure what he was being volunteered for. If it involved him going out after the guys that had kidnapped him he wasn't sure he was up for that. But then he remembered Red Mist was a part of it, and had used him to get to Big Daddy and Hit Girl.

Dave was angry; he wanted to get back at the dick. But he realized whose company he was in at the moment and knew from previous exposure that their idea of payback likely meant killing the guy by cutting his head off.

"Yes you can," Big Daddy told him, pressing him to help his daughter, knowing she needed it. "That anger you're feeling right now, all you have to do is use it. Focus it, channel it and you'll be alright." Big Daddy turned his gaze back on Hit Girl, "Baby Doll, follow the plan, you know what to do."

* * *

_Hey guys, long time no see, huh? Well I've been really busy lately so excuse my long absence. But now I'm back! I've stalled on the Secrets Sequel front (mostly because the first chapter is about Christmas, and I'm really over winter and Christmas in general so my drive there is not going strong), but this story should prove to be interesting... I hope :)_

_I've had this thought for a long time, and even toyed with the idea of writing something about Damon living and Mindy not knowing and him popping up after living for years with amnesia... But that seemed too far fetched for me lol. But I've worked out a solid plot for this, like I had with The Secrets We Keep, so things should move along smoothly like that story did :)_

_I'm really excited to see what you guys think, so please let me know all your thoughts, predictions, etc. I LOVE hearing from you guys!_

_Also, I was wondering what your guy's opinion is on how to spell dumbass and badass. Should it be two separate words like: dumb ass or should it all be together like: dumbass? I personally like the second version, but word doesn't think it's a real word and has a horrible red squiggly under it (I know it's not a huge deal but it bothers me, so I wanted input). But then again, it doesn't recognize the word cunt either, so..._

_Let me know, guys! I've missed hearing from you all :) Hope you enjoy how this unfolds :D_


	2. Chapter 1

Daddy's in the hospital. For a while the doctors weren't sure he'd make it, but he's miraculously still alive. Its been a few days and more than one surgery later, but the doctors say he's going to be okay now.

I didn't think he was going to make it. I busted into Frank D'Amico's apartment seeking vengeance. And I got it. Well, with the help of a friend, anyway. Which I haven't told daddy about yet, I don't want to do that. Being beaten down and getting to the point where Frank held a gun to my head would be the ultimate disappointment. Not to mention that I had to count on a rookie with a bazooka to get me out of it.

So far as daddy knows, Frank is dead and Dave and I got out alive, he didn't get to hear much else before passing out from his pain meds. Thanks to those pain meds, I haven't been able to say much of anything to daddy. He's always either totally zonked out, or headed for another surgery.

But I still haven't left his side. Despite Marcus showing up and begging me to go home and sleep in a real bed, I haven't left this hospital. I haven't even left the room except to get food from the cafeteria.

I'm still not convinced he's gonna leave here. At least not alive, anyway. It would help if I could just have a coherent conversation with him. But these nurses are constantly pumping him with meds. I've even thought about disconnecting him from the IV but they have sensors to tell when he runs out of the shit.

So until he's gotten through all his surgeries and skin grafts and whatever shit they're doing to him back there, looks like I'm not going to going to have any family bonding time.

Which makes all of this even worse. All I want to do is talk to daddy. I just really need one of his pep talks. After everything went down with Frank and his guys I'm just really shook up. I'd always thought it was so easy, that it would stay easy. Like daddy and me were gonna march in and just kill 'em all.

But that didn't happen. Daddy almost burnt to death, and I almost had my brains blown out. I guess I'm just now realizing that daddy isn't invincible, and I'm not either. Which is a scary thought. Like I'm just now realizing death isn't just possible, but very likely considering what daddy and I do on a daily basis.

Even now, watching daddy lay asleep in his hospital bed, bandaged and tied up with all kinds of tubes, freaks me out. I know it's why Marcus doesn't want me hanging around here all day. But if I can just catch a moment where daddy's in his right mind, for just a moment, and he reassure me that he's okay…

I'd already lost him once, before I was even born, and after finally getting him back, I don't want to lose him again. Marcus is fine and all, but he's not my daddy. Daddy and I get each other, he knows when I'm fucking with him, unlike Marcus who isn't as keen to my habit of peppering my vocabulary with more adult words than an average kid.

Of course if I had someone my age to talk to maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Cause daddy's all I've got. I know it's the reason I trusted Kick Ass to begin with. I've never had a real friend before. I spent all my time with daddy, training and hunting bad guys, knocking off members of D'Amico's payroll as the years went by.

So when Kick Ass popped up, it was like a sign from the gods that they had hand picked a friend for me. Someone who puts on a costume and gets bad guys? Could there be a better fit? We're both into comics, obviously, and he's already saved my life at this point, so I feel like I can trust the guy. But I haven't seen him since he dropped me off on the rooftop near the safe house.

I know he's probably recouping himself since he got beat pretty bad that night too. At least that's what I keep telling myself. But then again, it's not like he could find me if he wanted to anyway. I told him my name's Mindy Macready, but that means about jack shit in this town. Daddy's not even listed under Damon Macready here at the hospital. He used one of his aliases when he checked in. So unless Dave starts hanging around safe house B every day for the next few months, he's not likely to ever find me again.

"Hey, honey. Café's about to close for the night, you better pick you up somethin' to eat before it closes," The nurse said, coming in to check on daddy's vitals like they do every few hours. I uncurled from the chair next to daddy's bed, and stretched out.

I didn't say anything to her, I never do, which surprises me the nurses continue to try and strike up conversation with me. Makes me wonder if they think I'm mute or something. She just smiled at me before leaving the room, so I stepped over to daddy's bed.

"I've gotta get dinner, Daddy, but I'll be back. I promise," I said, touching him on the arm, so he knew I was talking to him. He shifted a bit, and murmured, his eyes fluttering at bit. That's about as much response I ever get from him.

So I left the room and traveled down the hall, headed for the cafeteria. I took my time, since it's not like the food is something to get excited about. I wound up picking up a cheeseburger and fries, and eating alone in a secluded corner. The fries were cold and the cheeseburger tasted like asshole, but it did the job of filling my stomach.

I was walking back to daddy's room, cutting through the emergency department waiting room, when I noticed a slumped down figure with a curly mop of brown hair. Dave popped into my head, but I didn't think much about it. I turned the corner and sneaked another glance the boy's way, and it was like Dave.

For a moment, I wondered if he'd somehow tracked daddy and I down, but then remembered I had to reroute his IP address, so there was no way that dumbass could have found us. Besides, he seemed to be waiting for the emergency department, like everyone else in the area.

I did take a seat across the room from him though, and watched him unnoticed. No one else in the room seemed to pay attention to a 12-year-old girl taking a seat in the busy emergency room, and Dave was no exception.

I sat and watched him for a few minutes. Physical surveillance is always different, no amount of online research can tell you what a few minutes of just watching a person can. Like now, Dave's body language is totally different than the person he tries to be online. He's slouched, looking down at his phone, a blank, yet uncomfortable look on his face.

It's interesting; he's insecure, positioning himself as if he's trying to disappear. But online, and his time out as Kick Ass has him as a bold, take action type of guy. I smirked to myself, as more pieces of the puzzle fell into place. I figured I'd spent enough time spying on him, and got up.

But as soon as I did I froze up. What was I going to say to him? Should I play it cool? What is cool? God it would be so much easier if I were in my Hit Girl costume, I would know what the fuck I'm doing. I was about to just give up and walk away, but then that would just be another disappointment to the legacy of the girl my daddy raised. A Macready doesn't give up, we push further, we win.

So I took a deep breath, let it out and marched on over to where Dave was sitting. I sat down one seat down from him and went with my gut.

"What the fuck happened to your face?"

Dave snapped up and looked in my direction half surprised, half insulted. He instantly reached up to the large scratch on his face, as if he hadn't known it was there.

"Wha—?" He started, confused, but then he noticed me smiling at him, and must have put two and two together, recognizing who I was, because his face relaxed and he smiled back at me.

"How'd you find me? Wait, are you stalking me?" He asked me cautiously, lowering his voice, and leaning back a few inches.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, leaning back in the chair. "Yeah, Dave, I came here to confront you in a crowded, public place. So you know, when I smash your brains in…" I trailed off, teasing him, speaking nonchalantly, before breaking out in a grin.

His look of worry faded, and turned into annoyance, at my teasing him. "That's not funny. I can't tell when you're joking and when you're serious… I mean…" He trailed off and looked around before leaning in and lowering his voice. "I know who you really are, and I wouldn't put it past you."

I grinned even wider, "Thanks, I appreciate the complement," I told him acting more pleased than I really was. I was hoping I wasn't totally butchering our conversation. I didn't want to scare him away, just tease with him.

He sighed and leaned back in his seat. "So what are you doing here then?" He asked.

The smile left my face, I didn't mean for it to, but it did. I couldn't help being thrust back into reality. He noticed and sat up, paying closer attention to me.

"Daddy's still in here," I told him, trying to sound as cool and nonchalant as possible, but I knew the fear was creeping into my voice and body language, especially when I noticed my hands were automatically picking at the seat cushion. I immediately let go and shook them out slightly.

"Oh…" He said softly, looking down at his feet. "How's he doing? I mean… Is he going to be okay?" He asked. At first I just thought he was trying to be polite, my instinct was to snap at him and tell him to fuck off, I don't need anyone babysitting me.

But I looked up at him and his face looked so genuine, so very… worried. Like he actually cared whether my father lived or not. So I didn't tell him where to go. I opened up instead.

"The doctors say he's gonna be fine, but I don't know… They've got him so doped out, it's hard to tell how he is," I told him, being honest.

Dave shrugged, "Well, that's a good thing, means he's not in pain," He replied, clearly trying to look on the bright side. "Besides, if the doctors are telling you he's going to be okay, I'm sure he will, they usually aren't the ones to sugar coat it."

I snorted just a bit, "It's not like they're going to tell a twelve-year-old girl her daddy's gonna die. But still, it would be nice to just talk with my dad, carry on a conversation," I told him.

Dave nodded his head, agreeing with me. We stayed quiet for a moment, I looked over as a baby wailed out from across the room and grimaced at the squealing baby. I turned back to Dave, "So what are you doing here?" I asked him, curious as to why he's in the hospital. "Are you the one stalking me?" I asked, teasing him again.

He laughed, and reached back up to the scrape on his face. "No, like I could even get away with that… You did spot me," He replied, raising an eyebrow.

"That could have been your plan. Get me to talk to you, try and kidnap me…" I teased again, knowing both of us were aware that would have been an impossible feat for him.

He smirked, "You caught me," He said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "No, I'm getting my face looked at, I think it might be infected," He said, rubbing around the scrape on his face.

I rolled my eyes and he continued. "My dad's all worried about it, and I don't know, it still hurts…"

"It's not infected, if it was infected it would be all kinds of gross colors. Stop being such a pussy and man up," I told him, secretly fearing I may have went too far with the teasing at that point.

Dave scowled, dropping his hands from his scrape. "Well, I'll just let my dad know…" He leaned in and dropped his voice again, "Hit Girl checked it out and told me it was fine." He leaned back again, "He'll feel a lot better about it."

"I don't know… He'd probably just be too freaked out you'd had a face to face conversation with Hit Girl to care about your face anymore," I replied, leaning back and crossing my arms again.

Dave smiled, "Yeah, you're probably right."

The baby started wailing even louder and I couldn't take it anymore, not to mention just being around this many people makes me nervous. It's so much nicer in daddy's room. It's quiet, secluded, and there are comfier chairs in there.

So I stood up, "Hey, you wanna head to daddy's room? It's a hell of a lot quieter," I said, glaring over at the mom who was doing nothing to stop her baby from crying.

Dave stood up awkwardly. "Uh, are you sure? Do you think he'd want to see me?" He asked, looking uneasy.

I rolled my eyes, "Who knows, he's so doped out he probably won't even know you're in the room," I told him, starting to walk towards the step down ICU wing, which is where daddy was.

Dave followed me as we winded through the halls. He didn't say anything; the squeak of his sneakers on the linoleum was the only noise as we walked along. One of the nurses I'd seen in daddy's room was sitting in the station as we walked in. She looked surprised to see Dave with me, and she smiled, but I didn't smile back.

When I got into daddy's room, miracle of miracles, daddy was awake. A smile broke out over my face. I ran to daddy's side and held onto the bed rails.

"You're awake! How are you feeling, daddy?" I asked, totally forgetting about Dave.

"Could be better," He told me, looking over my shoulder at Dave. I turned to see where he was looking and noticed Marcus was sitting in the room as well.

"Who's this… Young gentleman?" Marcus asked me, referring to Dave.

"Oh, this is Dave," I told him and paused, wondering if I should go ahead and tell him he's Kick Ass. I'm sure he's wondering how the fuck I know this guy, and if I just bring in some random stranger. Marcus is well aware I don't have any friends. "He's Kick Ass," I awkwardly added, finally.

Marcus' eyebrows shot up. "Well," He said, as if he weren't sure what to say.

"What's he doing here?" Daddy asked me, not looking happy, despite also looking tired and worn out.

"I saw him waiting downstairs when I went to get dinner," I answered meekly, sensing daddy wasn't pleased with Dave's presence.

"So, you're all hanging out together?" Marcus asked, referring to our all being superheroes.

"I just came in to get my face looked at, Mindy surprised me," Dave said, trying to defend himself, and stepping back, clearly not comfortable with the idea of being in the room anymore.

Daddy sat up in bed, stick strait. I widened my eyes, surprised by his sudden movement.

"He knows your name?!" He asked me, referring to Dave's nonchalant use of my name. I shrunk back, knowing he was now upset with me. "What is the first rule of being a superhero?!" He yelled at me.

Marcus stepped forward, and came in between me and daddy. "Damon, you need to calm down, it's not that big of a deal," He said, trying to calm him.

A nurse stepped in at the moment, "What's going on? Your vitals just went up, I'll give you a new bag of Dilaudid," She said, setting up a new bag, clearly wanting him to just konk out again.

Marcus shuffled Dave and I out of the room and into the hall as the nurse tried to tend to daddy. "Look Mindy, I really don't want you staying here in this hospital all the time, it's not healthy. You need to be out in the real world," He said, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"I could take Mindy out somewhere if you want. We could go to the movies or something," Dave offered and my scowl I'd had from Marcus' request melted away. I could feel my face breaking into a wide grin and I tried to stop it. I was being so transparent around Dave for some reason.

Marcus caught my grin before I'd totally squelched it and grinned. "Yeah, that would be great. Spending time with someone closer to your own age, doing something normal would be good for you," He told me, raising an eyebrow critically.

Dave grinned, "It'll be like a date," He teased.

Marcus laughed, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I should let you know I'm a cop, so don't get any ideas," He said starting out kidding, but turning into seriousness.

"Okay, geez," I said, pushing Dave away from Marcus and we walked down the hall, trying to stop the embarrassment before it got too far. As if Marcus needed to stop a boy from doing anything with me. I can handle that myself, thank you.

"I'm sorry I got your dad all upset," Dave said, looking guilty.

"Don't be. He's not mad at you anyway," I answered, not looking forward to the conversation we were going to have once he was well enough to yell at me for telling Dave my actual identity.

"Still, if I wasn't there he wouldn't have gotten so upset," Dave said apologetically.

"Actually, seeing him like that made me feel better. He was more… Alive than he has been for the last few days," I admitted.

"Well in that case, you're welcome," He replied, smirking. "So what do you say? A movie date? I'm sure Marcus is right; you staying in here all the time can't be healthy… Or fun, for that mater," He said.

I smiled, but tried to play it as cool as I could, "Yeah, I guess if I have to go out, going with you wouldn't be so bad. But if you think we're seeing a dumb girly movie with shit acting, you are dead wrong!" I warned him.

"I would be shocked if that was what you wanted to go see, honestly," He replied, a goofy smile playing on his lips.

"Well, good, I guess you know me well enough to see a movie with then," I replied. There was a moment of awkward silence where I wasn't sure if I should just say goodbye or try to keep the conversation going. Luckily Dave answered that question.

"Well I better get going, my dad's going to wonder what's taking so long just to get my face looked at. He's probably freaking out thinking they've rushed me into surgery or something," He said chuckling to himself.

"If your dad is so worried about that little thing, I guess he is the worrying sort," I told him, joking.

He had a strange look on his face and I feared I'd said the wrong thing, but the look disappeared and he went on talking.

"Well I can pick you up on Saturday night around 6:30 for our movie date," He said, using a singsong voice when he said movie date.

"Yeah, that sounds… cool," I said searching for a word that didn't sound too overeager, but still interested in going.

Dave stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and shrugged making an awkward goodbye. As I walked back to daddy's room I wondered if Dave really wanted to hang out with me or if he was just being nice since he was around daddy and Marcus.

I know I wanted him to genuinely want to hang out with me, but he's already got friends, unlike me. Plus does he really want to spend time with a twelve-year-old girl? I chewed on the inside of my lip pondering all these things as I walked in the room, almost forgetting that daddy was upset with me. But when I walked in he was asleep, probably from the drugs.

Marcus was still in there though, so I walked over towards him.

"So you're going to the movies, huh?" He asked me, smiling, clearly pleased at the idea of me leaving the hospital, even if were only for a few hours.

I couldn't help it, I started smiling, thinking about what the future could hold. I could have a real friend. For the first time.

"Yeah, he said Saturday at 6:30," I told Marcus, biting my lip, trying to contain the happiness that was surely spreading all over my face.

"That's great, Mindy," He said and turned to look at daddy. "It's good that you're going out and doing regular things,"

I pouted, knowing he was about to launch into one of his spiels about Hit Girl not being a good idea. "Yeah, well he's Kick Ass, so don't get too excited about me being normal," I warned him, trying to ward off his lecture.

He smiled at me patronizingly. "Yeah, but it's a good start," He said getting up out of his chair. "I'm going to get some dinner, you want anything while I'm out?" He asked me.

"No, I'm fine," I told him, walking over to my designated couch on the other side of the room, closer to daddy.

Marcus left and I was alone with daddy again. I watched him sleep for a while before I went ahead and talked to him. "I know you're not happy with me getting friendly with Kick Ass, but you don't know him like I do, daddy… I know we can trust him," I said, reassuring myself more than daddy. I laid back on the couch and grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, just in time to catch a new episode of CSI.

* * *

_Okay, so this is the real first chapter :) Once again, let me know what you guys think, cause I love hearing from you! Oh, and a super shoutout to adm-frb for all the help I've gotten on getting this up here :)_


	3. Chapter 2

This is a horrible idea. But there's not much I can do. I'm so weak I can't even get out of bed to take a shit, let alone stop my daughter from going out to see a movie with a stranger. It's one thing to trust the kid to help Hit Girl, but another thing entirely for him to take Mindy out, as a civilian.

"Do you need money?" Marcus asked her, getting his wallet out of his back pocket. Mindy smiled, taking the money he took out, and sticking it in her pocket.

"Better question, what else are you bringing with you, baby doll?" I asked her, praying to god that she hadn't forgotten all the training we'd put in over the years, just because a boy had asked her to the movies.

She turned to me and rolled her eyes, smiling. "Daddy," She whined,

"Uh uh, what are you bringing?" I asked again.

She sighed and pulled out a pair of knuckle dusters from her other pocket. "I've got these, and my balisongs, daddy,"

Marcus didn't look pleased, his face falling into a grimace. "Good call baby doll," I praised my little soldier, upsetting Marcus even more.

"Is that really necessary?" He asked me, crossing his arms. "I highly doubt this kid's going to try something with Mindy," He added.

Before I even had the chance to respond, Mindy answered, indignant. "I don't need these to stop a guy from doing that."

"That's not what they're for anyway," I informed Marcus, pleased with Mindy's response.

Marcus looked back and forth between Mindy and I with a worried and disgusted look on his face before he plopped down in a chair. "Never mind, I don't want to know," He said, sounding defeated.

"Is now a bad time?" Came from the doorway, snapping all of our attentions towards its speaker. It turned out to be that Dave kid.

Marcus' smile returned and he jumped out of his chair, leading Dave into the room. I scowled and tried to cross my arms, but the IVs got in the way, making me look pathetic. Which was not what I was going for. I just sighed and let my arms fall by my side.

"You look a lot better than I last saw you, sir," Dave said, kissing ass. I just glared at him.

"Yeah, daddy's been taken off the heavy meds so he's not just sleeping all day anymore," Mindy told him, almost chirping with happiness.

Dave looked down at her, "That's great," He told her before turning to me, "I hope you're not in pain though," He said, addressing me.

"Not likely," I quipped. I could see Marcus look noticeably upset with my demeanor towards the kid, and he tried to push them on their way.

"Well, you don't want to be late for the movie. You two should get going," He said, ushering Mindy and Dave out of the room. Mindy waved goodbye before slipping out the door.

Marcus glared at me, walking over to my bedside. I could hear Mindy's laugh from down the hall, and looked out the door, as if I could see her, before looking back at Marcus' disappointed face.

"What is wrong with you?" He asked me. Except he didn't ask me in an angry upset way, he asked it with his eyebrows knit in frustration and sadness filling his voice and body language.

"What do you mean? I'm trying to keep my daughter safe," I answered.

"You're suffocating her. Do you really want her to grow up socially inept? It's just a movie, I'd have thought of all the people on the planet, you'd be okay for the kid to be that Kick Ass kid," He said, getting upset.

"This is distracting her from what's important," I replied, tensing up.

"What's important is for Mindy to make friends, be a normal kid, have fun, for fucks sake!" Marcus yelled back at me. "Can't you see how badly she wants this?"

I looked down at my hands, knowing the last part was true. Mindy's face lit up as soon as Dave walked into the room. Not to mention how anxious she'd been all day, changing her shirt twice throughout the day in anticipation of tonight.

"See, you know I'm right," Marcus said, and I looked up to glare at him. "At least give Mindy the chance to have one friend, even if the friend has to be as delusional as you,"

"I am not delusional. There is evil in this world, and I'm making sure my daughter never falls prey to that evil," I explained gruffly.

"Frank D'Amico is dead, Damon. Let Mindy have the chance to do what makes her happy. I'm sure she's still going to want to…" He lowered his voice glancing at the open door before continuing on. "Be Hit Girl, or whatever it is you two do, but she deserves to have friends too. You have to let her go, Damon. She's not going to be a little girl forever."

.

.

.

This has got to be the most surreal moment of my life. I'm going to the movies with Hit Girl. Albeit, she's not in costume, but it's the same girl. I don't know why I volunteered to do this in the first place. I'm still not sure I trust her not to kill me and leave me for dead in the middle of the dark movie theater.

But here we are. At least it's Saturday, so the place is crowded. Maybe she won't try to off me in a crowded place.

We walked up to the marquee and looked over what movies were showing. "So what do you wanna see?" I asked her, noticing there were three R rated action movies, which were probably what she'd want to see.

I turned to look at her and she looked confused and a little unsure. She caught me looking at her and asked, "Do you know what they're about?"

I looked back at the marquee and pointed at the first movie, "That's probably going to be a really gory one, lots of blood and guts, the director's kind of known for being kind of over the top with fake blood," I told her, thinking that would be the one she'd like best.

She wrinkled her nose, surprising me, "Is it believable, though? If it doesn't make sense I don't want to waste time watching it,"

I laughed, "No, probably not. Um, this one's about zombies I think, or something post apocalyptic," I said pointing to the next R rated movie.

"Eh, It will probably just have a bunch of dumbasses running away and being scared and shit, not a lot of good action," She responded, waiting for me to pass onto the next selection.

"Well, this one is about some secret agent or something, maybe more than one, I can't remember a lot about it. I think he goes rogue or something," I told her.

She smiled, "That sounds interesting," She said, thinking it over.

"I think it has Bruce Willis in it," I told her, hoping she'd picked this one, otherwise we were going to end up watching a raunchy comedy, not something I'd like to experience with a twelve-year-old girl. I'd probably have to explain all the jokes. Or what if I didn't have to explain it? I don't know which would be worse.

"Isn't he getting a little old to be in action movies anymore?" She asked me, raising an eyebrow, and smirking.

"I guess not," I told her, smiling back.

"Well, let's see it. Don't let me down, Bruce Willis," She said, smiling and joking as we walked over to the ticket counter.

I looked over and the only open line had an old lady sitting at the counter. I quickly scanned over the marquee again, before walking over to the woman.

"Two for… Summer Camp Musical," I said, trying to keep a strait face.

"What?!" I could hear Mindy protest beside me. I turned and looked down at her, trying to give her a look to work with me, without letting the old woman catch on.

"Yeah, my little sis has been waiting all year to see it," I told the woman who smiled and handed me our tickets.

"Oh, she'll love it, it's so fun!" She said smiling at Mindy, who had a what-the-fuck-are-you-doing-to-me, look on her face.

"I'm sure she will, thanks," I said, walking away, pushing Mindy along with me.

Once we were far enough away, I bent over, speaking low. "I'm only 15 Mindy, I can't buy R rated tickets, let alone try to get in with an even younger girl," I told her.

She still wasn't getting it. "So we have to see a shitty teen musical?" She asked, disgust all over her face.

"No, we just bought tickets for it, we're sneaking into the R rated movie," I explained softly. "Cause there is no way I'm watching… Summer Camp Musical," I added, glancing at the ticket with disgust.

"Pft, you and me both," Mindy said, looking relieved, as she understood what was going on.

I straitened back up and glanced over at the concession stand. There was a long line, and I groaned internally. "Come on, let's get some popcorn," I said to Mindy, getting in line.

Mindy was scanning the menu, and pulled out money from her pocket. I was about to tell her not to bother and that I'd buy, but then I remembered her comment about having three million dollars in a suitcase days earlier, when she'd driven us away from the hospital after dropping off her dad and I'd asked what her plan was for the future. I decided she was well better off than I was financially, so if she wanted to buy her own snacks I wasn't going to stop her.

"That from your suitcase stash?" I asked her, referring to the three million she'd mentioned.

She looked up at me, confused, and looked at the money in her hands, since it was where I'd nodded my head towards in inclination. It took her a moment but she finally figured out what I was referring to.

She smirked at me, "No, that's only for emergencies. Like if I have to suddenly buy a jetpack with Gatling guns," She said smugly.

I smiled and shook my head at her in disbelief. There was a moment of silence after that and I looked down at her again and she looked nervous. I wasn't sure what about; surely she wasn't anxious about messing up her candy order.

"Have you ever tried using a Twizzler as a straw?" I asked her, trying to end the lull in conversation and hopefully get her mind off of whatever was bothering her.

"You can do that?" She asked me smiling and looking excited.

"Yeah, just bite off both ends and stick it in the drink. When you suck it, it works just like a straw," I told her, amazed she'd never done that before, I'd thought all kids had tried that at one time or another.

Mindy craned her neck trying to look around the people in front of us, eyeing the candy ahead. "Well, I'm gonna find out just how well that really works… Yes! They have Twizzlers," She said triumphantly and looking up at me.

"I don't know if it works on Icees though," I told her pensively. "I tell you what, you try it out on regular pop, and I'll see if it works on an Icee," I proposed to her, eager to see what would happen.

"Deal," She replied, looking just as excited as me. After we'd finally gotten to the front of the line and ordered our food and drinks we headed towards where the movie theater with our desired movie was playing.

I had balanced the popcorn in one hand, my Icee in the other, and Mindy had her pop and the package of Twizzlers. I was looking out for any employees to stop us from going into our movie and didn't see any. Right before we went in I turned to Mindy.

"Just follow my lead, my friends and I do this all the time," I told her. We walked into the dark theater and the commercials were already playing. "Perfect," I whispered to her. This way no one would see or notice us as we climbed up to the back.

"This way," I told her, leading us up to the back rows. We sat right underneath the projector window and sprawled out. I turned and looked at Mindy sitting beside me. She was smirking.

"If I'd known you could sneak into movies, I'd have had daddy turn this into a training exercise," She whispered to me, smiling.

"That's actually a good idea. I guess… It's not very superhero behavior, but it teaches valuable skills," I replied, stifling my laughter so we wouldn't disturb our neighbors.

"Exactly," She whispered back and paused before an idea struck her and she turned back to me excitedly. "We should try sneaking in without any tickets next time," She said grinning deviously.

I raised an eyebrow, "Even less heroic behavior… But if it means free movies, I'm game," I whispered back.

We settled in then and watched the movie unfold. I wasn't sure what Mindy's impression on the movie was, but when I snuck glances her way, when the screen lit up the theater enough to see the expressions on her face, she seemed to be enjoying it.

It wasn't bad, actually it had some pretty badass scenes in it, and I had to hand it to Bruce Willis, he hadn't lost his touch yet. As we snuck out around the other patrons leaving after the movie was over, I had the chance to ask her what she thought.

"Well, it was pretty good. I loved the part where he stepped out of the car and it swung around him and he just kept shooting at the guy, that is the definition of a badass, right there," She told me, looking up at me and smiling.

"Yeah, I liked that part too. I can only imagine what that girl in the back seat was thinking," I said chuckling to myself.

"Probably what you were thinking when you met me for the first time," Mindy said slyly, smirking at me. "Your face that night was priceless," She added.

"Hey, that was terrifying. One moment I thought I was going to get murdered, the next some little girl comes in and cuts off everyone's legs and shit," I defended.

"Like I said, I think you and that chick in the movie were having a similar moment," She replied.

I threw her a look and she grinned, laughing at my reaction. "Besides, Bruce Willis wasn't even the biggest badass in the movie. That other British assassin lady was way cooler. Did you see her with that Browning M2? Of course in real life those bullets are fifty calibers, and wouldn't have just bounced off those cars, even if they were armored, they would have cut through like a hot knife through butter. But hey, her on that gun was fucking awesome!" She said getting passionate, and going way over my head.

I noticed a woman turn and give Mindy a bewildered and shameful look at her blatant use of the word 'fuck' and I shot her a look in return. "I don't know what any of that means, but I'll take your word for it," I told her, turning back to her.

She looked up at me, and realized I was totally clueless about the weaponry she was describing. "God, I need to teach you about firearms," She said as we walked outside.

I turned to her, "You know how weird that sounds, right?" I told her, as we walked back towards the hospital.

"Why? Cause you're totally clueless about all things big and scary?" She teased me in a baby voice.

"No," I answered indignantly. "Because you're… How old are you anyway?" I asked her, curious since she'd never told me her age.

"I'm twelve. But my thirteenth birthday is coming up," She answered me, sounding defensive.

"Well, a twelve year old girl, telling a fifteen year old boy that she's going to teach him about guns is really bizarre," I told her, letting her know I wasn't making fun of her for being young, just that it was really strange for the younger girl to know more about the subject than the older boy.

"Maybe, but that's what makes me unique," She said proudly.

We walked in silence for a while and I realized that I'd had fun with Mindy, probably more fun than I had with Marty and Todd when we go to the movies. I don't know why, but despite my initial uneasiness, I had fun. Maybe it was just because it was a new experience.

But I had to admit that Mindy was pretty much the coolest person I'd ever met, she was Hit Girl after all. But it was more than just that. Our humor matched, and even though she was a girl I didn't feel awkward or nervous around her like I am around Katie or her friends. Well, not the same type of nervous anyway. Instead of being afraid I'll make a fool of myself I'm more afraid she's going to turn on me and stab me with a giant samurai sword or something.

But even that feeling had faded. The silence we were walking in didn't even feel weird, like we already got along so well we didn't need to keep talking all the time to fill the space and time between us.

We were almost at the doors to the hospital that Mindy would take to get back to her dad's room and we had come to our parting point.

"Thanks for taking me out. I know Marcus is relieved I spent time outside of the hospital," Mindy told me, slowing down her pace.

"No problem, we'll have to do it again. I had a good time. You're a great movie date," I teased her.

She smiled at me and hit me in the arm playfully. But it hurt. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a bruise.

"Well, I'll wait by the phone for your call," She replied, playing along.

"Gosh, I'd love to call you, Mindy, but I don't even have your phone number," I said, drawing out the act.

"Oh, yeah," She said smacking herself in the head with the palm of her hand. "I forgot to give you my cell number," She said. "Well, it doesn't matter. I've got your number," She said teasing and raising an eyebrow.

"I don't even want to know how you found it," I replied deadpan.

She laughed, "I'll just text you. Thanks again, I'd better get back to daddy, he's probably freaked out," She said, turning to go inside. She turned back around and yelled at me as she walked backwards, "Hey, and next time you take me on a date, asshole, bring some chocolates or flowers, you bastard!" She smirked and turned around going inside the sliding doors.

A few people gave me looks, probably thinking I'd just taken her out on a real date. That or just wondering why a girl that young was swearing like a sailor. I just shook my head and walked towards home.

I'd gotten onto the subway and was listening to my iPod when my pocket vibrated. I expected it to be Todd, but it was an unknown number.

"**Hey, I had a great time, can't wait for your call, schnookums ;)**"

I snorted with laughter and shook my head, smiling, knowing it was Mindy.

"**I know you'll be waiting by the phone with baited breath, cupcake**." I sent back and smiled as I slid my phone back into my pocket.

* * *

Well my goal was to have this up by Sunday, but computer issues got in the way... Anyway, I hope you guys like the chapter. I wrote Damon's POV like three times before I liked it lol.

So... Leave me reviews and everything lol. I LOVE hearing from you guys ;)

(Bonus points if you can figure out what movie they saw)


	4. Chapter 3

It felt good to be back in costume and patrolling the streets. Several people waved at me and smiled as I passed them, shouting, "Yeah, Kick Ass!" "Great job buddy." And "Keep up the good work, man."

I'd forgotten how freeing and powerful it felt to go out as Kick Ass. Why had I ever stopped? I rounded a corner and was suddenly inside an alley. There was a dumpster on the right and a chain-link fence separating the front and back parts of the alley. I took notice of the fire escape and walked over towards it to climb up.

My plan was to scale the side of the building and get on the roof for an aerial view. When I reached out for the bars to pull down the stairs I heard a voice behind me. I turned around expecting some guy with his cell phone, wanting video of the real Kick Ass.

What I saw instead was a group of thug looking guys. The man that had spoken spoke again, "Yo, Kick Ass, I'm a big fan,"

Despite his words I didn't feel any better. It was more in the way he said it though.

"Yeah, you think you're tough shit don't you?" Another one said.

Felt my heart race and I reached behind me for my batons. But two other guys rammed into me, pressing me against the wall before I was able to grab my weapons. For a split second I wished I had a gun to just shoot the guys with, but that thought disappeared.

My arm was pinned behind me and the guys were crowded around me. "Come on guys," I pleaded, my voice cracking.

They laughed, "It's your fault my brother's in Sing Sing. You're gonna pay for that," The first one said and they all chuckled in anticipation.

He punched me in the face. It didn't hurt so much, _why didn't that hurt? _I wondered, but the world became fuzzy and it was like I couldn't keep my head upright. I felt like I was going to fall over, like I couldn't stand upright because the world was turning.

Another guy grabbed me and pulled me away from the wall and grabbed my arm, twisting it and breaking it. I felt that. They laughed as I screamed in pain.

I fell to the ground and felt like my body was so heavy I couldn't get up. My head was swimming. I heard the noise of a gun cocking and I looked up to see the first man pointing it at my head.

"Sweet dreams, fool," He said and pulled the trigger, an explosion going off.

I bolted up, despite the sluggishness my body felt. It took me a moment of fumbling around, feeling my head to realize in the dark that I'd just woken up from a nightmare. That explained the dizziness and strange sense of gravity.

I sighed and rubbed my arm that had broken in the dream and turned to look at my alarm clock and see what time it was. "Two a.m." I sighed and felt a stirring beside me.

Katie. I'd forgotten she was here. We were still naked under the bedsheets. Dad was working again, and when he did I invited Katie over. I mean, why not?

"Mmm, Dave?" She called out to me, rolling over and rubbing her face, sleep still clinging to her.

"Sorry, I just had a nightmare," I told her, trying to urge her back into her dreams.

"A nightmare? Baby," She replied, not going back to sleep but sitting up beside me and reaching out to console me. I smiled at her, still trying to shake the effects of my dream. "What happened?" She asked me.

"Ugh, it's nothing, really," I pushed her off, not wanting her to worry about me.

"Is it a Kick Ass thing?" She asked me, fully awake now, looking really concerned.

"It was just a dream, Katie. It doesn't mean anything," I told her, wanting to drop the subject altogether.

"Dave…" She said, urging me to talk with her. I felt her leg brush against mine as she shifted, and she pulled the bed sheet around her to cover herself.

I laid back down in bed, and she followed suit. We lay in silence for a while, but I could tell by her breathing she wasn't asleep yet.

"I kind of want to tell Marty and Todd," I said to her in the darkness.

"What do you mean? Tell them you're Kick Ass?" She asked me, and I could feel and hear her turn around to face me.

"Yeah, I mean, they're my best friends and they have no idea who I really am. You know, so why shouldn't they?" I reasoned. I turned to look at her in the dark and saw her looking at me, illuminated by the pale moonlight.

"I guess," She said, but sounded unsure.

"The only reason I haven't told them yet, is because I'm afraid once I tell them about it, they'll want to go out and do it too. And that's NOT something I want them doing."

"God no, I don't even want you doing it anymore, Dave," She said and flipping onto her back, turning away from me. "Just sitting there watching that video that night…" She trailed off, referring to the brutal beating I'd taken on camera.

I reached out to her, reassuring her. "Don't worry about it. It's over and I'm fine. Besides, I'm not going out again. I don't really want to," I told her, remembering the events of that night as well.

She turned back to me. "Thank god for that little girl that came in and saved you… But the guy you were with wasn't so lucky, was he?" She asked me.

"Actually, he's still alive. He's in the hospital still, but he's alive. Miraculously," I told her.

"Really? That's good," She said trailing off and settling back down. "Wait, how do you know how he's doing?" She asked me, curious.

"Oh, I ran into them at the hospital when I went to have a doctor look at my face," I told her the truth. I figure that sort of information didn't make a difference if Katie knew it. It was pretty vague after all. I rolled onto my back and tried to get comfy again.

"Dave?" She called out to me, sounding worried. I reached out for her and pulled her close to me. I could feel her naked skin against me and sighed. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a dream. It doesn't mean anything," I told her, reassuring both her and myself. "Let's get back to sleep. You've got to get up before my dad get's home," I reminded her, settling back into dreamland.

.

.

.

"I'm headed out, I'll see you in the morning, bud," My dad called out as he walked out the front door, out to another night of work, leaving me with another night all to myself.

Last night I had Katie to keep me company, and tonight I have a totally different type of company. One I will not be having sex with.

I invited Mindy over to hang out with since I knew she would enjoy getting out of the hospital, even if she didn't admit it. I'd been to see her a couple times since our movie date and she always seemed happy to see me. Couldn't blame her, I know from first hand experience how boring the hospital can be.

I guess Marcus had seen the text messages between Mindy and I after our movie outing since when I left he'd called after me, calling me schnookums and snickered, causing me to turn beet red. Mindy had just rolled her eyes. Her father on the other hand didn't look pleased, and every time I've been over to see him or shall I say, Mindy, he just sits there and gives me the death glare.

Which Mindy has noticed, as well as Marcus, so we generally head to another part of the hospital like the cafeteria or lobby to talk and hang out. But the last time I went to visit her I invited her out of the hospital and once again Marcus thought it was a good idea while her father didn't seem pleased.

But I guess Marcus won out since she's coming over anyway. Of course I made sure to invite her over after my dad left. I don't know how to break it to him that I'm hanging out with a twelve-year-old girl. Which it's weird enough that I enjoy it, I think.

At first when I hung out with her at the movie theater, and around the hospital I felt like I was obligated somehow. But I've found myself really enjoying it. For the most part I don't even realize I'm with a twelve-year-old girl, I'm just having fun bull shitting.

But still, I'm going to have to tell someone sooner or later about her. I just don't know who I'm going to tell first. Maybe I'll just leave it to necessity, whoever finds out first will get the explanation. Whether it's the real explanation or not depends on the person.

I'd made it back up to my room and was lazily making my bed before Mindy came over. I had my back to the window, which was why I almost pissed myself when I heard a voice behind me.

"Hey cock lover."

I spun around and found Mindy sitting in the window. My heart stopped beating out of my chest and I scowled at her. "Jeez, maybe you should have knocked or something. Or better yet, use the door," I told her, throwing my pillows on the bed haphazardly.

She smiled her mischievous smile and responded, "Where's the fun in that? Besides, all your other friends use the front door. I've got to differentiate myself."

She paused and bit her lip afterwards, looking pensive. I was about to ask her what was wrong but she climbed out of the window and smiled at me again.

"So what riveting activities have you got planned for tonight?" She asked me, her words dripping with sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes. "Video games?" I responded, asking her while motioning towards my TV and Xbox setup.

She shrugged noncommittally. "I've never really played too much of 'em before. I've always been out doing the actual fighting you pussies pretend to do with your little joystick," She quipped, smirking.

"Okay, first of all, no one's used a joystick to play video games since the 80s. Secondly, I'd like to remind you who saved your ass on that night at the D'Amicos," I responded.

She scowled. "Don't remind me," She grumbled and plopped down on one of the chairs in front of the TV.

"But that was my most badass moment. I'd like to remind you that I'm not totally useless," I answered, pretend pouting.

She looked up at me and smiled, but not in an overly happy way. I sat down next to her and started up the game. We both stayed silent as it loaded, watching the screen.

"So where's your dad at?" She asked me, breaking the silence.

The game's home menu came up and I filtered through it as I answered her. "He's working the night shift."

"What's he do?" She asked.

"He's a night guard at Rikers," I responded and she shrugged. I had to teach her the controls of the game before we were able to get much further.

We played in silence for a while before she broke the silence. "Dave, would you say we're friends?" She asked me.

"Sure, yeah," I responded, not really thinking about it.

"Well, you're my first real friend then. You should feel honored," She replied sounding happy but sarcastic at the same time and I looked over at her. She was smiling and trying to figure out how to make her man maneuver around in the game.

I immediately felt horrible. I'd just answered without really thinking about it. I knew she was sheltered, but not having a single friend in the world up to now?

I couldn't take back what I'd said now that she responded the way she did. And I sort of wanted to. I didn't want to be dishonest with her. I mean it's not like I don't like her. I just don't know if I'd call us friends yet. We're still in that weird phase of just getting to know each other.

But I didn't want to have to pretend with her either. What if I spent more time with her and realized I didn't want to have anything to do with her? What if I find out she's totally psychotic or something? And I hate to think what she'd do to me if I told her I didn't want to be friends anymore. I've seen first hand what she does to the people that try and screw up her family.

But then she looked so happy and innocent. She was smiling and figuring out how to throw grenades in the game, responding with a shout of disbelief and happiness at each successful attempt. I watched her, helping her with the button combinations, and relaxed. I thought back on all the times we'd spent together so far and remembered how relaxed I felt around her. We got along, we joked with each other. So I figured being friends with Mindy would be okay. Plus being friends with Hit Girl had to have its benefits.

By the time she left around midnight I felt better about the whole ordeal. In fact I think that I could call her my friend. But I still felt bad for her. I couldn't believe she'd never had a friend before now.

As I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I thought about introducing her to Marty and Todd, but how would I explain her to them without revealing that I'm Kick Ass. It's not like I normally hang out with pre-teen girls.

Maybe I could introduce her to Katie. I mean, Katie knows who I am. But then Mindy probably doesn't want Katie knowing her real identity. I mean, after the way her father freaked out when he found out I knew who she really was, I didn't want to see what he'd do if I told someone else about her.

Thinking about his unhappiness about Mindy's growing social cirlcle reminded me of an argument Mindy's father and their friend, Marcus, got into that I had overheard. The argument really struck gold. Marcus had been asking about enrolling Mindy in school and her father was not happy about it.

But it really was the best solution to the problem. Mindy could make friends her own age and get that whole new experience. I made up my mind that night that the next time I saw Marcus that I'd tell him that I agreed with his suggestion to put Mindy in school and that I would look out for her if she started at my school.

I think Mindy needs to spend time with people. She'd probably make friends really easy since she's a cute little blonde thing. Her personality might need some work, just to keep from getting detentions from her teachers, but that's easy to just not say out loud what you're really thinking about in class. Or in her case, just not say anything at all.

I just know, that if given the chance, Mindy could flourish in school. I thought for a moment that her going to school might keep her from being Hit Girl, or even weaken our friendship if she made other friends, but the pang of sadness and jealousy that came with that thought melted away when I realized how much better off her life would be like that, whether or not I was a part of it.

* * *

Once again I'd planned to have this up earlier, and I'm sorry. But here it is. Tada!

I can't think of much else to say, so I'll just leave you guys with a thanks for reading and please, pretty pretty please, leave me a review! ;)


	5. Chapter 4

Damn that little D'Amico punk for setting me up. I can't even walk anymore. How the hell am I supposed to continue being Big Daddy if I can't even walk?

I knew that I was in bad shape, but until going to physical therapy today I had no clue. Evidentially I have to retrain my muscles how to work, as in relearning how to walk, sit, stand, everything. At least it was only my legs and lower abdomen that were burned, and not everything on my body. If I had to relearn how to use my arms as well I would be better off dead.

Thank god Marcus had the foresight to take Mindy out for lunch when I had my appointment cause god knows I didn't want her to see me like that. I couldn't even get out of my wheelchair, let alone walk around the muscle training setup the hospital had. I've become this miserable, pathetic sack of shit. I mean, I can't even keep an eye on my daughter any more.

She's been spending more and more time with that Dave kid and I'm about to burst a blood vessel over it. It's not like I can hunt her down and stop her from going with the condition I'm in, I'm lucky if I can just go to the bathroom by my self.

Of course the kid hasn't given me a chance not to trust him. Yet. I know it's not his fault that D'Amico got to Mindy and that he was just a dumb kid, in way over his head. But that's just one of the many reasons not to trust Mindy with him alone. She's so easily persuaded when it comes to him that I'm afraid she'd do any dumb idea he came up with, like going out cosplaying as Kick Ass and Hit Girl or some dumb shit.

"Hey daddy, I'm back. Marcus took me to that mac n' cheese place. It was sooo good!" Mindy said, waltzing into the room and flopping down on the couch. I sighed and smiled at her.

"They had the weirdest macaroni and cheese flavors though. One had duck meat in it. Another one had lobster. Marcus got that one of course…" She started going off about her lunch and I stopped paying attention to her words. I was paying attention to her.

God she looks like her mother. They've always had the same lips. And eyes. Of course appearances are where the similarities end. Mindy's strong, brave, and bold. Very unlike her mother.

Of course all of this is in hindsight, I wouldn't have called Kathy a weak or submissive person before. I was drawn to her because of her bubbly personality. Who would have known that underneath that laid the soul of a meek woman that needed someone to take care of her? Without me around to do that, along with the devastating emotional trauma that came due to our circumstances she felt that taking her life was the only option for her.

I wouldn't have been so unforgiving about it though if it weren't for the fact that she was still pregnant with Mindy. I mean, even if she did it after giving birth to Mindy it would have been bad, she would have still left a baby alone in the world. But then it could have been passed of as postpartum, I suppose.

Still, Mindy's not like her mother in anyway other than the fact she's the spitting image of her. But that might have to do with the fact that her mother has had absolutely nothing to do with her life. What's that debate between nature and nurture? I guess she's pretty much just like me.

"I've never had lobster before. It wasn't bad, really cheesy, obviously, but I didn't like it. It was like chewing on a rubber bullet. Marcus told me that was just because it wasn't good lobster, but still…"

I did put her through the entire police training course, and then some. I've passed on my sense of humor, even my facial expressions. Maybe Marcus is right, Mindy being around other people her own age is a good thing. Maybe Mindy is too much like me. I never really realized that I am pretty much the only person she's ever had contact with. Other than Marcus of course, but even then she hasn't seen him in years, until now of course.

But that doesn't mean I want her around anyone and everyone. Besides, I've put a lot of time, effort, and thought into all the training I've instilled in her. I don't want it all washing away just because she starts hanging around a bunch of stupid kids.

God, what if she starts getting into makeup and wants to go to the mall all the time?

I heard Mindy's distinct laugh and was snapped back into the present. She finished laughing and then bit her lip. Her face fell for just a second and she immediately covered it up, smiling again and leaning back in the couch, sprawling out across it sideways.

I pursed my lips. "You're good. But you're not that good baby doll, at least not when it comes to me," I started, catching her attention, causing her head to roll forward and look at me. She bit her lip looking sheepish. "What's bothering you?" I asked her, praying it didn't have something to do with that Dave kid.

She sat strait up and pulled her knees into her chest. She pursed her lips, almost pouting and responded, "I've just been thinking a lot recently, I guess, daddy."

"Thinking about what, Sweetpea?"

She looked up at me, drawing in her eyebrows as if she were apologetic and unsure if she should tell me. "I… About that night, I guess," She said softly, as if she were afraid to broach the subject.

It dawned on me what she was getting at and I looked away from her and sighed. "Child, there's no reason to be scared. Remember what I always tell you," I responded, waiting for her reply.

Her shoulders fell, as she recited what I taught her. "I know, never let fear control your thoughts, because your thoughts control your actions… But I don't know if I'm afraid. I mean, I don't know if I'd call it being afraid," She said, trying to explain herself.

"So what is it you're feeling then?" I asked her, trying to get to the root of the problem.

She sat for a while, and I could tell she was trying to choose her words, to explain to me what she was feeling, which meant it was either something she'd pent up for such a long time she wasn't comfortable sharing with me, or that it was just difficult to explain.

"I don't know, daddy, I think this is just part of growing up," She started and I felt my eyebrows rise involuntarily. "Like I've always had fun, you know? Like we had fun together, training and catching bad guys. But I didn't think about the consequences. Like I guess now I've had my eyes opened. Like… now I know I'm not invincible."

I gritted my teeth. "What makes you say that? Be cause Ass Kick brought a lying little prick into our safe house and shot you? You had Kevlar on, sweetie. You came back and saved me, remember? In my book, you're still invincible," I said, trying to make her feel better.

She furrowed her brows thought and dropped her knees from her chest, meaning the fight was not out of her. "He's Kick Ass, daddy, and it wasn't his fault anyway. He didn't know any more than we did that Chris was going to do that," She said defiantly. I was about to rebuttal, but she cut me off. "Besides, you let him inside. You didn't have to. You even shook his hand!" She said, her voice rising.

"Well who's to say 'Kick Ass' won't do that again. That's why I don't want you spending time with him. He's dangerous. We can't trust him. For all we know, he was in on it and then the D'Amicos turned on him," I answered very seriously, ignoring the shooting pain as I tensed up, fighting with Mindy.

"No! We CAN trust him," She paused and clenched her jaw looking away momentarily as if she were weighing whether or not to tell me the next part. "If he were the bad guy, he wouldn't have shot all those guys at the D'Amicos,"

"Yes! That's what I'm saying, Mindy, after being beaten, he went out for revenge!"

"No! He saved me. He came in when I was out of weapons and saved me! He could have turned the gun on me, but he didn't. He… Well, he didn't really use weapons again after saving me. He just fought hand to hand with Chris.

"You ran out of weapons?!"

She slunk back into the couch now. "Well, yeah…"

"You had to rely on the guy that had just lead you into a trap that almost killed both you and me only hours earlier in the night?!" I could barely stand the pain at this point and it crossed my mind that we were being rather loud, but I didn't care at this point.

"That's it. No more Ass Kick. In fact, no more hospital!" I said, tearing the IVs out of my arm and trying to get out of the bed. The piercing wails of alarms filled the room as I unceremoniously flopped to the floor, unable to get out of my own bed.

"Daddy!"

"Is everything okay, I heard yelling and the alarm — Oh my goodness! What's happened? Are you all right, sir? Here, let me help you up. Lana! I need help in here!"

All I could do was lay on the ground as a group of nurses had to come in and help me back onto the bed. I could only sit there fuming and trying to avoid looking at Mindy, who was obviously upset. Well, at least she wasn't mad at me anymore.

"Daddy…" She said softly, reaching out for my hand. I gritted my teeth and moved my hand away from hers.

"Stop it. There's no need for you to look at me like that," I told her; mad at myself for not being strong enough to put my foot down about my daughter's behavior.

"I just heard you were found laying on the floor after the sounds of shouting came from the room, are you okay?" Marcus said coming into the room.

"Great, now you're going to fuss over me too," I grumbled.

"Actually I'm more worried about what you were fighting about," He said accusingly. I looked up at him sharply and he replied without skipping a beat. "You're a big boy. I'm sure you did it to yourself anyway."

I noticed Mindy went and sat back down on her couch and she was fidgeting with her hair, looking guilty. Marcus noticed too.

"What were you fighting about?" He asked me again.

I glared up at him. "It's none of your business what I discuss with my daughter," I told him defiantly.

"It most definitely is my business. If you haven't noticed, Damon, your little escapades have landed you in a hospital. You have to relearn how to walk. Besides, usually parenting is a two-person job. And I know, Kathy wouldn't have wanted Mindy to be surrounded solely by all this… psychotic fantasy land you're indoctrinated Mindy into."

"Don't you dare try to tell me what my wife would have wanted!"

"No, Damon. I'm going to tell you just that. Someone needs to. You forget that I'm the one that introduced you. I was friends with her too. You don't think I suffered when all the shit hit the fan? I watched my best friend, my partner, be locked up for drug dealing and then watched as his wife, my friend, took her own life, leaving behind this little innocent girl. I'll be damned if I'm going to let this poor little girl be poisoned by all that's happened," Marcus said, very upset.

I looked over at Mindy and she was looking up at Marcus, looking sad and concerned.

"And you aren't fit to take care of Mindy right now. God dammit, I'm taking her home tonight! She's lived in this hospital for the past three weeks. Is this really the life you want her living? Is this what you envisioned when you found out Kathy was pregnant?" He asked me.

I just looked down at my hands, remembering the innocent days when I was hopeful and excited for the future my little girl would bring.

I saw Mindy get up from the couch and move to pack her things, silently getting ready to leave. She went into the bathroom to collect her toiletries and Marcus stepped up to my bedside.

"I know this is a hard time for you right now. And I want you to know I'm not trying to attack you. I'm trying to help you. You're still my best friend, man. I love Mindy just as much as you do, I'm trying to make her happy," He told me softly.

I didn't respond to him out loud. I just looked up at him regretfully. He was right. Just like he'd always been back in the day when we worked side by side.

Mindy came up and hugged me hard before leaving with Marcus, leaving me all alone. She didn't look sad to leave, just guilty for starting the fight. I thought back to what started it and remembered she mentioned her realization that we were vulnerable.

I sighed and felt my heart ache to know that my daughter's eyes had been opened to the truth, that she knew death was very real. She was right of course. I'd made it fun, made it seem like a game. Even though I'd opened her eyes to the evil of the world, I'd still sheltered her from the stark reality of death.

Now it was all in front of her, unable to be ignored. She truly was growing up.

* * *

_Guys, writing from Damon's perspective is hard. So it's one of the reasons it's taken me longer than I would have liked to have this chapter up. But I'm just really busy right now, getting ready to move on the weekends and working through the week that i hardly have time to write this thing. _

_But anyway, I'm happy to have this chapter up :) And for those of you that didn't know, Kathy or Kathleen Williams is the name of Mindy's mother in the comics. She's married to Marcus in there though. But I still used her name as Mindy's mother and Damon's late wife. _

_So please leave your feedback. What did you think? Is Damon totally psycho or is he right in some aspects? I love hearing from you guys, so please leave your reviews for me to enjoy :) The next chapter should be interesting ;)_


	6. Chapter 5

God damn I'm bored. This house if so fucking huge for two people that never talk with each other. And yet my mother is still somehow coercing me into joining in the snoozefest that is socializing with the Long Island elite.

If I have to hear one more of these assholes outdoing one another over which Ivy League they're attending is the superior one I'm gonna fling myself from the balcony. I couldn't give two shits about Brown's business program or how Harvard's rowing team is doing this semester. Honestly, who gives a shit about ANY rowing team?

I've basically been reduced to a five year old, stuck in my baby pen here in Long Island now that dad's gone and Uncle Ralph is in charge. I can't understand how he gets anything done from inside Rikers, but I can feel his presence every damn hour of the day in this god damn house.

Or shall I say this Georgian Colonial based off of a design made by George Fucking Washington with his ashes scattered throughout.

But really, the way my mother goes on about this house you'd think we'd bought the damn Mount Vernon Estate or some shit.

I don't know why mom and I couldn't have just stayed in the penthouse. I mean, after it was cleaned up. There were lots of dead bodies lying around, but it wasn't like dad's was a part of it. He was reduced to ash across the fucking street.

Maybe Uncle Ralph thought is was safer for us? Like this gaudy mansion isn't a huge neon sign. "Here we are. Come and get us."

Not to mention how mom goes around blabbing about her 'heartbreaking' story of how her husband was brutally murdered. Complete with the same damn crocodile tears she had at dad's funeral. She sure fooled Ralph's cronies, and she's fooled all the self-absorbed celebrity wannabes here in Long Island.

It's gotten to the point where mom's story now includes her having a gun to her head and dad taking a bullet for her. Like she wasn't at some spa in St. Lucia that weekend.

Not that any of this matters. I could live in this 'Georgian Colonial' or in the modern penthouse. Kick Ass didn't kill me. He just knocked me out. He did blast dad with a bazooka. But he was about to shoot that little girl in the head. But then again she was a serious threat. I mean, all those other dead guys were her doing alone. Kick Ass didn't show up until right before dad and I had to do any fighting.

Still. I miss the big city. It was fast and loud and exciting. This house echoes when you walk across the floor. There's just something about being in that penthouse, being above everyone else and looking down on the city and the people.

It wasn't a power trip, I just liked the view.

And there's nothing to do here but go to these dumb parties. I know mom loves it. In fact her demeanor about everything has made me wonder about if she even misses dad at all.

I'm to the point where I'm pretty sure she just wanted this sort of life from the beginning. Like she married dad thinking she was going to live this glamorous rich lifestyle where all she had to do was sit around and go from party to party. And the performance she puts on every time she explains the story isn't helping her case in my eyes.

This isn't the life dad gave her. Instead she was constantly worrying about the family business and the money. Yeah, she went out and socialized with the New York City elite, but the New York City elite are different from the Long Island elite. They're smarter, and they care about actually important things like the economy instead of what color napkins to have at the next party.

So she didn't really fit in. But she sure as hell fits in here.

Which leads me to where I am now. Staring at this polo shirt, dreading the rest of the afternoon, because I'm going to have to listen to the Ken Clones drone on about rowing.

Damn fucking garden parties. How do these people not get sick of just going to parties all the damn time? Maybe they'll have edible food at this one though and not those nasty cheese appetizers they had at the last one. God help me if all they have are those sandwiches with cucumbers and 'green' juice.

Maybe I'm being punished. Like, Uncle Ralph is making me live here with mom because he thinks all that shit was my fault. Like I was supposed to know that a little girl was responsible for cutting down half of the family business. I should not be held responsible for that. I mean, for fucks sake, I almost died. That should be punishment enough.

I still have nightmares about that little purple chick standing over my bed and shooting me in the head. I've actually resorted to sleeping with a nightlight again.

Damn I really am like a five year old.

"Christopher, we're going to be late!"

Fuck that woman can screech. So I grumbled and pulled the polo on, knowing if I dared come down those stairs in anything other than a Ken Clone uniform she'd start bitching. And I'd rather hear her screeching than her bitching.

"What in god's name has taken you so long? We are going to be late now. And not at the point where we can pass for fashionably late. Jesus, what is with your hair? Here," She said as she licked her hand and started rubbing at my hair, trying to smooth it down.

"God, mom. Stop!" I said, pushing her off and trying to hurry out to the car and get this over with already.

"I just don't want my son looking like a perfect heathen. God damn, where are my keys. Things were so much easier when we had a driver. I'm just going to have to hire one. Oh, maybe make him one of those hot Puerto Rican ones, like Mimi was telling me about…"

Kill me now.

* * *

_This is shorter than I originally planned. But I was really not feeling this chapter and I knew I had to post it to get to further chapters and I just really wanted to get something accomplished this week lol._

_Anyway, Chris finally enters into the story. I'd love to hear what you guys think of him at this point. Not too much going on here obviously. Sort of still in exposition mode, but things should start progressing further soon._

_So please, please, pretty please leave your thoughts and reviews! I love hearing from all of you!_

_Also I may or may not have two other stories floating around in my head (which are the reasons I've taken so long to get anything posted on this one. I'm just excited about them is all)._


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